ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

December 1,

1994

IN THE MATTER OF:

)

PETITION OF ILLINOIS WOOD ENERGY)

PARTNERS,

L.P. FOR AN ADJUSTED

)

STANDARD

FROM 35 Ill. Adm. Code

)

AS 94—1

807 OR, IN THE ALTERNATIVE, A

)

(Adjusted Standard)

FINDING OF INAPPLICABILITY.

)

CONCURRING OPINION

(by G

•

T. Girard):

I agree with the majority opinion that the “produced wood

fuel”

as proposed by Wood Energy’ is a solid waste subject to the

requirements of Part 807 of the Act.

However,

I concur because

the majority opinion did not consider a critical aspect of the

Wood Energy proposal and may be interpreted to establish an

overly broad precedent.

A key aspect of this case is the various materials that Wood

Energy would mix to make “produced wood fuel”.

Wood Energy

anticipates receiving wood from industry, construction,

demolition, forest land management, general land clearing

operations, sawmills, wood product manufacturers, and other urban

sources

(ICC Pet.

at 3).

As a mixture, “produced wood fuel” from

these combined sources is properly considered a waste subject to

the requirements of Part 807 of the Act.

However,

some subsets

of this mixture should not be subject to Part 807 requirements.

The definition of waste in Section 807.104, which includes

the statutory language of 415 ILCS 5/3.53,

is instructive.

In

pertinent part it reads,

“waste means.

.

.

discarded

niaterial...resulting from industrial, commercial,

mining, and

agricultural operations, or from community activities....”.

(35

Ill.

Adin.

Code 807.104.)

Applying the definition to the Wood

Energy sources of wood shows that discarded wood from industry,

construction, demolition, wood product manufacturers, and other

urban sources is properly classified as a waste.

It is unclear

from the definition whether or not wood fuel derived individually

from general land clearing or sawmills should be subject to Part

807 regulations, and I will not make that determination here.

Wood fuel derived from forest land management should not be

considered a waste because “forestry” operations are clearly not

included in the definition of waste at Section 807.104 and 415

ILCS 5/3.53.

By not distinguishing wood fuel derived from forest land

management from regulation by Part 807, the majority opinion

1

Short form references

in this concurring opinion conform

to the conventions used in the majority opinion.

---

2

could be interpreted to mean that Illinois citizens who burn wood

to heat their homes would be subject to Part 807 requirements.

Most of the heating wood used by citizens is derived from forest

land management.

If we follow the majority opinion analysis on

page 9,

since energy is a by—product of incineration leading to

disposal, the wood fuel is a solid waste governed by Part 807.

Therefore, this reasoning potentially leads to the conclusion

that all citizens who burn wood in their homes are subject to the

Part 807 requirements for handling solid waste.

This potential

result would clearly be incorrect and,

hence,

I respectfully

concur

G. Tanner Girard

Board Member

I, Dorothy N.

Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

Board, hereby certi.fy that the above concurring opinion was

submitted on the

“L~~

day of

__________________,

1994.

Control Board